DEALING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESSES AND DEPRESSION

For millions of people,
chronic illnesses and depression are facts of life. A chronic illness is a
condition that lasts for a very long time and usually cannot be cured
completely, although some illnesses can be controlled or managed through
lifestyle (diet and exercise) and certain medications. Examples of chronic
illnesses include diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, kidney disease, HIV/AIDS,
lupus, and multiple sclerosis.

Many people with these illnesses
become depressed. In fact, depression is one of the most common complications
of chronic illness. It's estimated that up to one-third of people with a
serious medical condition have symptoms of depression.

Recommended
Related to Depression

The Food and Drug Administration sees no
difference between brand-name and generic medications for depression. Most
psychiatrists readily prescribe generics as effective copies of the original.
That said, it is not at all rare for patients who switch to a generic from a
brand-name medication to experience a difference. Sometimes they feel a return
of the old sadness, anxiety, and helplessness that the antidepressant helped to
lift. Other times, they get an unusual jolt of the same side effects that...

It's not hard to see the cause
and effect relationship between chronic illness and depression. Serious illness
can cause tremendous life changes and limit your mobility and
independence. A chronic illness can make it impossible to do the things
you enjoy, and it can eat away at your self-confidence and a sense of hope
in the future. No surprise, then, that people with chronic illness often feel
despair and sadness. In some cases, the physical effects of the condition
itself or the side effects of medication lead to depression, too.

What
Chronic Conditions Trigger Depression?

Although any illness can
trigger depressed feelings, the risk of chronic illness and depression gets
higher with the severity of the illness and the level of life disruption it
causes. The risk of depression is generally 10-25% for women and 5-12% for men.
However, people with a chronic illness face a much higher risk -- between
25-33%. Risk is especially high in someone who has a history of depression.

Depression caused by chronic disease often makes the condition worse,
especially if the illness causes pain and fatigue or it limits a person's
ability to interact with others. Depression can intensify pain, as well as
fatigue and sluggishness. The combination of chronic illness and depression
might lead you to isolate yourself, which is likely to make the depression even
worse.

Research on chronic illnesses
and depression indicates that depression rates are high among patients with
chronic conditions:

Symptoms
of Depression

People with a chronic illness
as well as their family members often overlook the symptoms of depression. They
assume that feeling sad is normal for someone struggling with disease. Symptoms
of depression are also often masked by other medical problems. The symptoms get
treated, but not the underlying depression. When you have both a chronic
illness and depression, you need to treat both at the same time